Rand Paul: “I was the original cosponsor of 2373, the Education Savings Act. That bill has changed. It is now 2646. I can support…”

“I was the original cosponsor of 2373, the Education Savings Act. That bill has changed. It is now 2646. I can support with reluctance this rule coming to the floor, but because of the changes that have occurred, I can no longer support this bill. There is nobody in this House that is a stronger supporter of credits and benefits and return of funds to parents to raise their children and give them a choice. There will be Members on this floor today who will oppose this bill because they cannot stand the idea of returning funds to parents and giving them a choice, but I am opposing it because this is a net tax increase. This is costing, and for that reason I can no longer support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I think the best way to give individuals and families a true choice is to give them tax credit. Unfortunately, this is a small step in the right direction, which I could have supported if we would not have had to raise taxes. We are closing a so-called loophole, a benefit provided to the businessmen and the individuals who benefit from the way their vacation time is deducted. The courts ruled in favor of the taxpayer and here we are undermining it. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, our own committee here in the Congress has estimated that what we do here today will raise taxes $1.8 billion over the next 2 years.”